China's plan for 10,000 feet underwater lab gains acceleration

China's plan to build deep-sea lab gets fast-tracked, would be used for military purposes and to hunt for treasure.

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China's current five-year economic plan came to light in March, and in it saw mention of the country's intent to build a manned deep-sea platform nearly 10,000 feet underwater. Now authorities have examined the particulars and decided to accelerate the project.

China's plan for 10,000 feet underwater lab gains acceleration | TweakTown.com

The purpose of the lab is multi-fold: to help hunt for treasure, evaluate mineral deposits (particularly oil), and to put it to military use (likely within the field of sensor and communication systems).

"Having this kind of long-term inhabited station has not been attempted this deep, but it is certainly possible," said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "Manned submersibles have gone to those depths for almost 50 years. The challenge is operating it for months at a time."

A timeline and cost estimate are not yet known, but Clark -- who previously served as special assistant to the chief of U.S. naval operations -- says the cost could be daunting.

NEWS SOURCE:bloomberg.com

Sean has a background in journalism, and has been using that to write about gaming and tech since 2008 - first for Neoseeker, then Rage3D, and now, TweakTown. As Weekend News Editor, Sean's job is to supply regular stories on the latest happenings in the tech world over the weekend.

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